Wildfires burned over 7.1 million acres of public and private lands during the summer of 2002, mostly in the western U.S. While battling these fires, 21 firefighters were killed.
Rocky Mountain Ecology
Colorado White River Forest Plan revision released, appealed
The White River National Forest encompasses 2.3 million acres in north-central Colorado west of the Continental Divide and straddling I-70. It includes one-sixth of national forest system lands in Colorado, but accounts for about 30 percent of recreational use.
Researchers link Colorado forest fires, atmospheric carbon increases
Researchers developed a computer model of a complex forest ecosystem to simulate the release of carbon during the 2002 fire season in Colorado.
Deal limits logging, protects habitat in Montana’s Bitterroot NF
The original Bitterroot project was to be the largest timber sale in US history, producing 190 million board feet of timber from 46,000 acres of forests burned during the summer forest fires of 2000.
Beginning of the end for Lake Powell?
Of immediate concern is the slimy muck that threatens the Colorado Plateau’s multimillion-dollar recreational river rafting industry.
Group reports status of wildlife of the Lewis and Clark trek
The report analyzes the plants and animals that inhabit (or inhabited) the vast terrain explored by Lewis and Clark and provides a look at the status of forests, mountains and plains that the expedition documented.
Snowmobile reprise in Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Parks
This is the fifth time in less than 10 years that the U.S. government is requesting public comment on snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.